16th�17th centuries

By the end of the 15th century attitudes seemed to have begun to harden against
prostitution. An outbreak of syphilis in Naples 1494 which later swept across
Europe, and which may have originated from the Columbian Exchange,[58] and the
prevalence of other sexually transmitted diseases from the earlier 16th century may
have been causes of this change in attitude. By the early 16th century the
association between prostitutes, plague, and contagion emerged, causing brothels
and prostitution to be outlawed by secular authority.[59] Furthermore, outlawing
brothel-keeping and prostitution was also used to "strengthen the criminal law"
system of the sixteenth-century secular rulers.[60] Canon law defined a prostitute
as "a promiscuous woman, regardless of financial elements."[61] The prostitute was
considered a "whore � who [was] available for the lust of many men," and was most
closely associated with promiscuity.[62]

The Church's stance on prostitution was three-fold: �acceptance of prostitution as

an inevitable social fact, condemnation of those profiting from this commerce, and
encouragement for the prostitute to repent."[63] The Church was forced to recognize
its inability to remove prostitution from the worldly society, and in the
fourteenth century "began to tolerate prostitution as a lesser evil."[64][65]
However, prostitutes were to be excluded from the Church as long as they practiced.
[66] Around the twelfth century, the idea of prostitute saints took hold, with Mary
Magdalene being one of the most popular saints of the era. The Church used Mary
Magdalene's biblical history of being a reformed harlot to encourage prostitutes to
repent and mend their ways.[67] Simultaneously, religious houses were established
with the purpose of providing asylum and encouraging the reformation of
prostitution. 'Magdalene Homes' were particularly popular and peaked especially in
the early fourteenth century.[68][69] Over the course of the Middle Ages, popes and
religious communities made various attempts to remove prostitution or reform
prostitutes, with varying success.[70]

With the advent of the Protestant Reformation, numbers of Southern German towns
closed their brothels in an attempt to eradicate prostitution.[71] In some periods
prostitutes had to distinguish themselves by particular signs, sometimes wearing
very short hair or no hair at all, or wearing veils in societies where other women
did not wear them. Ancient codes regulated in this case the crime of a prostitute
that dissimulated her profession. In some cultures, prostitutes were the sole women
allowed to sing in public or act in theatrical performances.